But five months were to elapse before the royal pair were united, and this five months forms one of the most curious episodes of Henrietta's career. She became for the time being a military captain, "her she majesty generalissima," as she calls herself. She played her part right well, as if she remembered that in her veins flowed not only the blood of her father, but of her heroic Medici ancestor, Giovanni delle Bande Nere.[283] This delicately nurtured woman, who was, moreover, in bad health, lived among her soldiers, says the admiring Madame de Motteville, almost as imagination may picture Alexander living among his. Forgetting feebleness and fatigue, she was constantly in the saddle; setting aside all etiquette, she dined in the open air with her followers, each of whom she treated as a brother. It was no wonder that the Popish army of the Queen, as it was angrily called by its enemies, adored its royal mistress. Few probably thought of Alexander, but some--old soldiers from the Continent, perhaps--may have remembered the stories of Henry of Navarre among his companions-in-arms. The military details of the campaign cannot be entered into here. The Queen was much in the hands of military specialists, a position she did not love, and which elicited some complaints that she could not rule the army which bore her name. There were jealousies and differences of opinion, such as on the question of attacking Leeds, in which matter both she and the Earl of Newcastle, her general, followed a course which drew upon them a mild censure from the King. Perhaps the most notable success was the gain of Scarborough, which was delivered up by its Parliamentary governor, Sir Hugh Cholmondley, who came to kiss the Queen's hand at York. In that ancient city she made a considerable stay, which was further enlivened by the reception of some of the northern loyalist nobility, among whom was the Marquis of Montrose.